Now Live on CARL•Solution: OWLSnet Consortia Implemented New Integrated Library System 100% Virtually.
The newest library system to implement TLC’s CARL•Solution integrated library software is the Outagamie Waupaca Library System’s shared automation network (OWLSnet). This library system, which went live on August 17, 2020, is a public library consortium consisting of 29 libraries with 49 locations that stretch across two library systems in northeast Wisconsin.
OWLSnet has many distinctions among CARL•Solution’s family of customers. Not only is the library excited to experience CARL•Connect Fill List for paperless holds pulling, but they are also one of the first systems using FRBRized views in CARL•Connect Discovery and hosting through TLC•Cloud Services by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. OWLSnet is also the first customer to ever launch CARL•Solution entirely remotely — without TLC staff on-site to assist.
“Halfway into our migration, we had to suddenly switch gears,” said Amanda Lee, OWLSnet Manager. Before the pandemic, their team would meet remotely with TLC, then gather in-person to go over migration workbooks. Once the pandemic forced the library to go virtual, they had to meet exclusively online, while figuring out what their workflows would look like with a new ILS in different phases of re-opening.
Lee went on to say, “It’s been a very positive experience during a very stressful time. The implementation team were pros all the way. I think having the strong project management plan helped keep us on track when everything was changing and up in the air.”
TLC’s CARL•Solution team, located in Denver, switched gears on their end as well. TLC is proudly the industry’s leader in providing customized, hands-on, thorough implementation processes, and figured out how to provide the same level of service in an entirely remote environment. They established new ways of communicating with each other and their OWLSnet partners, while preparing to train library staff online, through instructor-led and independent exercises, and recorded content.
Cindy Phillips, TLC’s Project Manager leading the OWLSnet implementation, shared that, “Migrating a customer to a new system takes a strong team and that was even more necessary for the OWLSnet migration during a pandemic! We were fortunate to have such a great partner in OWLSnet to work with and a resilient team in Denver to pull it all off remotely.”
About The Library Corporation:
TLC has operated continuously under the same ownership since 1974 and employs over 200 people dedicated to delivering enterprise software and hardware solutions to public, school, academic, and special libraries worldwide. TLC’s cumulative products are deployed in more than 1,100 organizations, representing over 5,500 locations in North America. TLC is certified by the U.S. General Services Administration, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program. TLC’s Headquarters is based in Inwood, W.Va., and has additional offices in Denver, Minnesota, and Singapore.
